Rain to me can be depressing.  Thankfully this week while it’s rained, I’ve been stuck in the office.  I’d hate to be the person that had errands to run.  But it still makes me want to nap, curl up in a blanket, or watch a movie & be lazy.

I’m going to try & jet out of work early today so that I can spend some quality, fun time with my mom before she leaves tomorrow. Nanna has been cooped up in the house all week with no car & a sick, cranky kiddo.  I believe they BOTH need a break!  Getting out & about can help that….ONLY if it stops raining! PLEASE.

The term croup does not refer to a single illness, but rather a group of conditions involving inflammation of the upper airway that leads to a cough that sounds like a bark, particularly when a child is crying.

Tatum has the nasty croup that is going around.  Sunday night after we got home from playing at the park & Farmers Market, she all the sudden turned into Miss Cryer and was very upset.  We were grilling out, making dinner, having a good ol time, and I thought, who is this cry baby!?  I picked her up & noticed she was burning up – had a fever of 102.1.  Tatum never really has had a high fever before so I knew something was up.  Poor girl wanted just to be held and lay on my shoulder.  We gave her meds, a cool bath, and she was out like a freight train (snoring)! 

Monday morning Tatum wakes up & comes into our room about 5:30 am, still burning up.  Still high temperature – so we give her more meds, and put her back down to sleep.  I was concerned because her fever had not gone down, so I called the after hours nurse, and she told me not to worry – fever is normal in a child – and to just let her ride it out (I actually felt like she was reading a script & not really TALKING to me, very frustrating).

I decided to work from home, in the case that I chose to take her to the doctor if her fever didn’t break. And it never did – and a nasty chest cough developed earlier that morning, which everytime she coughed, Tatum would cry. So sad!  The doc took us immediately around 1:30 pm yesterday – and they are so fast at getting us in and out!  I love ARC (just not the night nurses!).  Dr. Amy said that it was Croup – that this is going around, and Tatum’s lungs and ears look good – so that is very positive. Whew.  It could have gotten worse.

We ran to Wal-Mart to get more baby meds and Dora the Explorer popsicles.  Of course, since Nanna is in town, our cart became full very quickly with a Dora the Explorer bouncy ball, a new Elmo (kiss me) toy, toddler plates, fake Crocs…lots of things!  Manda & Isiz were at Wal-Mart, too, so that changed Tatum’s demeanor!  She was so excited to see her friends.

The moment we got in the car, crying again, high fever, and then she CRASHED out in the back seat. Poor thing.  She slept for hours yesterday afternoon, holding a high fever the whole time.  I love cuddling with my girl, so makes me so sad when we are cuddling and she’s sooo friggin hot.  After bath time, her fever was 102.7.

I had set my alarm to wake up at 11:30 so I could give her meds again to help the fever.  At that time, it was 102.9 and I was so concerned! Shouldn’t fever go DOWN with baby tylenol, not up?  So, I called the night nurse AGAIN.  Why I call them, I don’t know b/c I am always pissed every time I hang up.  The nurse acted as though this was no biggie – don’t worry, as though I was inconviencing her and wasting her time unless the fever was 104.  I’m sorry lady – my daughter’s breathing sounds awful & has 102 fever for more than 5 hours straight….I’m going to worry! URG!  I was SO upset. I hung up quickly b/c she was just no help and started crying.  What can we do? You feel so helpless!

So I grabbed my pillow and blanket & stayed in her room until her fever went down.  So many things went through my mind:  What if I didn’t worry – and there was something else wrong with Tatum that we would never know unless I called?  High fevers can be dangerous at times, and although this might be common for some babies – Tatum never has had it, so aren’t I normal to be in freak out mode after 2 years of good health!?  Seriously.  I laid on her floor crying so heavily b/c I was so worried!  I thought who can I call this late?  Who can I text to validate my concern but also to let me know its ok?  So, instead of calling anyone – I just prayed.  After an hour, I checked her again – and it had gone down to 102, so I knew it was gradually reducing.  So, I curled myself up in the recliner and set my alarm to keep check her every so often.  By 3:00 am, it was down to 100.9, and I felt much better.

I’m at work today and SO thankful mom is here this week.  If she wasn’t, I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable leaving her.  This blog has no real rhyme or reason, but to let me vent & say that the ARC night nurses are stupid.  I’m honestly thinking about making a comment on their website.  Watch out for crazy psycho mom.

I received a very sweet thank you card today from a guy on my team.  He recently was able to pursue a few dreams of his, utilizing his creative talent within our company.  And the last sentence to the card said:

“Our dreams bring meaning to our lives.  Whether or not we achieve the dream is inconsequential…the path to the dream is the dream itself.”

 Isn’t that such a great line?

I was a tad bit nervous this weekend b/c we did not actually make official plans for our anniversary overnight getaway.  Spontaneous is not necessarily my middle name – and although I WISH I was more spontaneous – I’m not. 

We checked in to our hotel (Driskell Hotel) Friday about 4:00 pm, went straight to the oversized bed & turned on MTV.  We love catching up on cable during vacations!  TI’s Road to Redemption was on – and oh how I loved it!  I couldn’t get enough.  It was still misty & cold outside, so no walking around for me!  I get cranky with wet hair, wet clothes…well just being wet altogther. 

We decided to eat at BESS, since I hadn’t been able to check it out since opening a while back.  Neat little place – cool atmosphere, food wasn’t too bad.  Sandra wasn’t there, which I was sad about.  After eating, we enjoyed ourselves while strolling through BookPeople, Anthropology (yes, I got a cute sweater), and Whole Foods.  Chris got a dessert (I think all my cookie dough the day before was enough dessert for me!) and then we headed back to the hotel.  We ‘rented’ a movie, The Reader (very good).  Our room was a really neat room – was on the 11th floor and overlooked 6th street. 

In the morning, we slept until 8:30 am (woa!) and ordered room service.  Chris saw two ‘celebrities’ on the elevator, but I can’t remember who.  I must not have been impressed enough!  We checked out at noon & then headed up to Round Rock. We spent the day shopping at Ikea & the Round Rock outlets.  It was so nice to not have to be anywhere for anyone (and to not have to worry about a nap for a little munchkin).  We stopped at Maudie’s for an early dinner & then headed home to kiss & love on Tatum!  When you hear your daughter yell MOMMY and run to you – that is so worth the quick getaway.

–Disclaimer: I am not pregnant. Do not ask. Do not wonder.  I am not.–

Yesterday, my hormones decided to revert back to those of a 16 year old!  I allowed an individual at work who has a totally different viewpoint on recruiting to ruffle my feathers.  I was so ruffled to the point of almost stalking Susan with text messages & voicemails – CALL ME – I needed her to confirm I am not crazy.  Whew. I’m not. Thanks Susan.

That was half my day (emotionally at least). Don’t you get so upset at yourself when you allow things that shouldn’t even bother you—bother you!  I tend to over-involve myself sometimes.  

Yesterday was our 5 year anniversary, and as excited as I was in my heart – my body & emotions just weren’t up for the excitement. Sorry babe!  I came home a little early, we made dinner and Chris got us a movie to watch after Tatum headed to bed.  Nights in Rodanthe (is that how you spell it?).  Before the movie, I was PMS’ing SO bad, I had to eat more. Something. Anything! 

Chris had this beautifully written, loving card waiting for me when I got home.  He had shaved his beard off – just so that today (Friday, when we actually celebrate) he’d be scruffy b/c he knows I like the scruffy look.  And before our movie, he went out to Target to buy me cookie dough – to feed my hormonal body.  Tears were flowing b/c of his niceness to me!

The movie by the way was pretty corny. And super sad ending.

However today is a much better day!  NonnaB is flying in this morning to visit us – so Chris and I are getting a night ALL TO OURSELVES!  We’ve got a room downtown at the Driskoll (woohoo!). I’m hoping we’ll eat at BESS (and Sandra Bullock, realllly hoping you are there, too, so we can catch up as BFF’s).  Tomorrow, not sure what we’ll do, but we are playing all by ourselves.  I’m very excited.

Oops- gotta run.  Someone just brought in chocolate donuts to work! This will definitely help my cookie dough hang over…

There was a few important things that Tracy taught me when I first moved to Austin.  I believe her exact words were:

Above the River = North.  Below the River = South.  West Austin = Good.  East Austin = Bad.

I never considered SouthPark Meadows & the subdivision we built our house in to really be “East Austin.”  However, when I start hearing of lamo, desperate people breaking into someone’s home in the MIDDLE of the day – I start to wonder, are we living in the BARRIO?

Sara told me yesterday of one of our neighbors who had an attempted break in WHILE she was home.  They rang the door bell 3 times, and of course she ignored it b/c who wants sales people in the middle of the day bugging you.  Then, after she didn’t answer, they attempted to open the door with a screw driver – when she yelled at them, they got scared & drove off.

A similiar thing happened to me a few weeks ago when I was home sick with Tatum on a Monday.  Tatum and I had just woken up from a nap and someone kept ringing our door bell & then banging on the door.  Thankfully I had Brodie inside with me.  He went crazy barking (he sounds so fierce!) and was jumping up at the window.  Finally after like the 3rd or 4th banging of the door, I was ticked.  So, I walked to the front door (still in my robe at 2:30 pm…) and saw a red car outside with a woman driver & a man leaned over the window talking to her.  When I cracked open the door, I startled them.  I say very rudely – what do you want?  They started fumbling over their words and finally the guy said, ‘um, oh, wrong address.’  Right.

Freaky, huh.

I’m cracking up because I’m thinking of the month and all that is happening, and realize, every March for the McCool’s is craziness. My head went to MARCH MADNESS.  But wait, that rang a bell—I searched back to March 2008, and what did I find?  The title of March Madness.  Tatum was learning to walk, I was pumping less milk at work (hallelujah), and Chris and I were in the decision making process of planting a church in South Austin. Wowzers, what a year!

So, I find myself back to March Madness, Round 2!  March starts the ‘quarter’ of busy-ness, outside of normal everyday routine.  We have our 5 year Anniversary (March), My Bday (April), Tatum’s Bday (May), and Chris’ Bday (June).  In addition to the fun celebrations, we’ll be having both moms visit this month, two cousins coming to town to visit (plus Baby Blake!), doing a Community Service Project with our Church, launching Life Groups within our church (2 or 3 people/accountability groups), College Girlfriend Reunion with Kiddos, and geesh, I’m sure I’m missing something – and again, these are in the next 4 weeks.  April is a whole other story! Oh, hopefully a garage sale SOMEWHERE in there.  

I’m excited about life.  Everyday life.  The ‘events’ of the month are always a blast, but even if they weren’t happening – things are good.  Both cars are paid off.  We are back to the full blown envelope system to now focus on paying off credit cards by the end of the year.  Chris and I have learned how to work well together in making decision, implementing thoughts & ideas with our Church, and just living life.  I am seeing friends come to Christ, friends asking questions about Christ, and others that are interested in what a spiritual journey might look like for them.  What more could we ask for, right?  Life is about relationships & love in those relationships.  Nothing else.  We seem to so easily complicate things as humans.

So, cheers to March.  Cheers to friends. Cheers to life.